NJIT vs UMass Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/1/24

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the NJIT Highlanders

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UMass Minutemen

Recent betting trends in games played between NJIT and UMass

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the NJIT vs UMass game

NJIT Highlanders Betting Preview

The Highlanders opened up the season on a pretty rough run, falling to Penn, Villanova, Loyola MD, Morgan State, George Washington, Bucknell, and Cleveland State in succession over their first seven. Game eight was finally a win, however.

In Wednesday’s matchup with Morehead State, the Highlanders were trailing 32-31 by the break. NJIT hit a 47-37 flurry from there and bagged the victory 78-69, though. Tariq Francis was tops with 23 points, and Sebastian Robinson added 21 points.

UMass Minutemen Betting Preview

Over on the UMass side, they beat New Hampshire in their opener then fell to West Virginia, LA Tech, Hofstra, Temple, and Florida State in the next five. The Minutemen broke the losing streak with a victory versus Harvard, though.

Matched up against the Crimson in Wednesday’s game, the Minutemen came out of the locker room with a 24-24 tie. UMass hit a 38-30 advantage the rest of the way and won 62-54. Daniel Hankins-Sanford notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.

Why the Massachusetts Minutemen will win

• Massachusetts has won each of its last seven day games against non-conference opponents at William D. Mullins Memorial Center.
• NJIT has lost 13 of its last 14 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• NJIT has lost the first half in each of its last four games against non-conference opponents.

Why the NJIT Highlanders will win

• Massachusetts has lost five of its last six games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

NJIT vs UMass Prediction

I was initially going to lean toward UMass here, but the line seems thick enough for NJIT. There’s not a ton of intrigue in this game if you’re not a fan of either team, but it should at least be semi-competitive if the Highlanders play well. The Minutemen bagged a much-needed victory over Harvard in their last outing despite an ugly 1-of-16 (6.3 percent) from 3-point range and 14 turnovers. UMass’ win was saved thanks to a 51-28 (21-8 offensive) advantage on the boards. Still, that makes just 121 points in the last two games combined.

As for NJIT, they’re coming off a much-needed win as well. It was the first time all season that the Highlanders had hit the 70-point mark, and they’ve been giving up some pretty healthy points totals on the other side more often than not. Still, if all goes well I like NJIT to hang around here--cover-wise, at least.